The Lion And The Lamb
by morghamp
Summary: Bass and Charlie are on their way to find Miles and Rachel. I'm not good at summaries so just check it out.
1. Chapter 1

I stared at him across the fire he was just sitting there playing with his knife, I highly doubt he had even noticed that I have been staring at him for the past five minutes. He looked distant as if he were thinking about something. His past I guess, he never really talked about it so I don't know much. All I know is the man his past turned him into. There was a crack of a branch and our heads snapped up in union. "I'll go check it out" he said getting up and slinging his shotgun over his shoulder. He starts walking toward the woods, but then he stops for a second and looks at me.

"Oh and Charlotte," he says, "Don't go anywhere I'm really not in the mood to be chasing you down tonight." I hated when he used my full name, so I just glared back at him. He smirked and walked into the woods. I stared at the fire hoping that it was just some animal and not a person. Not that if it was a person they would have a chance to hurt either me or him because he would kill anyone the moment he saw them. That's just the kind of man Monroe was, a monster. I heard footsteps behind me and figured it was him. "Well that was quick" I said without moving my eyes from the fire. Then, I felt arms coming around my neck forcing me to my feet. "What the hell was he trying to pull?" I thought.

"Where is he?" yelled a deep voice. "Oh my god it's not him where is he?" My thoughts raced. "Where's Monroe?" he yelled again, tightening him grip on my neck. I couldn't breathe

"I-I have no idea!" I managed to get out.

"What do you mean you don't know? You were with him earlier!" The man yelled into my ear.

"I'm right here ass hole." Monroe responded, stabbing the man in the arm. He released me and I fell to my knees gasping for air. I heard fighting behind me, but I didn't look back. I couldn't watch him kill another person. A gunshot rang in my ears and I heard a body being drug away. A few minutes later I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and looked at him. He was still holding his rifle there was a stream of blood running down his right arm, and a little from a cut on his lip, but those were the only visible injuries I could see. He could have more, but it was dark and the fire was starting to die.

"You okay?" he asked me crouching down so he was eye level. I nodded back at him, staring at the rifle and avoiding his bright blue eyes that glowed in the fire light. He noticed me staring at the gun so he threw it down. I don't know why him with a gun made me so nervous, I should be used to it by now, but for some reason I still didn't trust him, at least not fully. He hadn't attempted to kill me in my sleep yet so I guess that's saying something. I took his right arm in my hand and examined it. I lightly moved my fingers around the cut and he winced.

"You big baby." I laughed at him. He attempted to smile at me, but failed. I could tell his arm was annoying him. The cut wasn't very long, but it was deep. It needed stitches, but as far as I knew there were no doctors around.

"It's fine Charlie, don't worry about it." He said

"No it's not I need to clean it out."

"Charlie just-"

"No, I'm not just going to go to sleep and let you handle it."

"Fine." He finally agreed. There was a stream nearby and I needed some more water to clean him up. I casually got up and walked over to one of our packs and grabbed a water bottle.

"I'll be back in a few minutes" I told him.

"And where the hell do you think you're going?" He questioned me.

"To get some water to clean your cuts."

"Hell no you're not"

"And why the hell am I not?"

"Because it's dark, and it's dangerous."

"Since when do you care about me Monroe?

"If you get hurt your uncle is going to kill me."

"I'm pretty sure he is going to kill you anyway." He just stared at me, like I had just hurt him in someway. It's not my fault that he and Miles are pissed at each other again. It was quiet for a few minutes until he broke the silence.

"I'll go get that water." He walks over to me, grabs the water bottle, then heads into the woods. It's kind of weird being all alone out here at night. It was so peaceful now that I actually thought about it. I laid down on the hard ground and listened to the crickets, using my arm as a pillow. Closing my eyes I took it all in. The smell of the dying fire, the sound of the crickets. I slowly started to drift off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke to someone shaking my shoulder. "Charlie, c'mon get your ass up."

I groaned, "Just let me sleep" I knew he wouldn't, but it was worth a shot. "No, get up, we gotta get moving." He said as he nudged my back with his toe. I opened my eyes and looked at him. His sleeves were shoved up and he had a piece of blood drenched cloth wrapped tightly around his arm. His brown curly hair all matted and tangled, he looked like hell.

"We need to do something about your arm." I told him.

"Yeah I know," he responded, "I have a friend that can fix it. He only lives a few miles away." I raised an eyebrow at him. I really didn't want to go with him to see this "friend" of his. I have had too many bad experiences with Miles so-called "friends", so why would Monroe's be any different? "Great." I murmured. He held his hand out to me and I took it, letting him pull me up. He already had everything packed up and ready to go. So we set off for wherever his so-called "friend" lived. We walked in silence, it's not like we have anything to talk about.

"So," I broke the silence "this friend of yours, was he Militia?"

"Nope, he's a pre-blackout friend, I just hope he still lives where I think he does." He answered back. I sighed a breath of relief. So Monroe's so-called "friend" might actually be a good guy. I felt my whole body relax a little, it was reassuring that we probably wouldn't be in any danger while we were there. It was unusual for me, and no doubt for him too. Hell, everything about our world was dangerous. I sometimes wonder how it might have been before the blackout. What he was like, Monroe that is. Was he even capable of being a good person, of loving someone? I couldn't picture it, but there was just something about him. His face, those eyes, wait, what was I thinking? That man is a killer, and he is responsible for the deaths of not only my little brother, but my father as well. I shouldn't feel anything but hate for the man I was walking beside.

"Were getting close Charlie." He informed me, breaking my train of thought. "It's just up this driveway." The driveway was gravel and very steep, woods were on both sides and you couldn't see the house from where we were standing. We began the trek up the driveway and as we reached the top we were both breathing hard and I could still see there was a ways to go still, but at least it was flat. I stumbled over my own feet and just about hitting the ground, but Monroe caught me before I fell all the way to the ground. He didn't remove his arm from around my waist after he had helped me up. I guess because he was afraid I might stumble again. As we came closer to the house I started to get nervous, I had no idea why.

"Charlie, relax," Monroe chuckled. "I can promise you that this man will not hurt you." I guess he felt me tense up. As we rounded a bend in the driveway the house came into our view, it was a decent sized log cabin with a barn sitting by the woods. As we approached the front door I pulled him closer to me, thinking of him as my protection. He knocked on the door I felt my heart rate increase. Easy, breathe. I told myself. I heard footsteps and saw the door swinging open. A man who looked like he was in his thirties was standing in the doorway. I studied him, blond hair, brown eyes, about six-foot tall. The man's eyes widened when he saw us.

"Well I'll be damned," He said with a smile. "Sebastain Monroe." Monroe smiled back at the man.

"It's been a long time." He replied, releasing me and giving the man a friendly hug.

"And who is this young lady?" The man asked.

"Oh, and this is Charlotte," Monroe replied, "but I would call her Charlie if I were you. She gets pissed if you don't."

"I do not!" I objected, punching him in the shoulder.

"Anyway," Monroe started, "You get the point." He said smiling at me. "And by the way, Charlie this is Carson."

"Well it's nice to meet you." I said shaking Carson's hand.

"Likewise. Please, come on in." He waved us through the door. He seemed like a gentlemen but I still didn't quite trust him. I trailed Monroe closely, my fingers gripping the back of his shirt. I heard the door shutting behind us. "You two wanna sit down, maybe explain why you're here?"

"Well," He said as he pulled up his sleeve to reveal the piece of cloth he had tied around his arm. "as you can see, I kind of need someone to fix this up."

"Ahh, I see. Do you mind taking that off so I can look at it?"

"No, not at all." He fiddled around with the knot for a minute before giving up and cutting the bandage off with a knife. Carson had a surprised look on his face.

"What the hell happened, Bass?" He asked.

"Some son of a bitch was trying to hurt Charlie." I saw a flash of anger go across Monroe's face when he said the words. Carson raises his eyebrow and looks at me, but he doesn't say anything. Instead, he turns his attention back to Monroe's arm.

"Well Bass, I know you won't like to hear this, but it needs stitches."

"Yeah, I kind of figured." He replied, making an attempt to sound calm.

"Come on, in here." Carson led Monroe to some other room to sew him up. I was left alone in this room, I didn't quite know what to do so I just sat down on the couch. I waited for a few minutes until I decided to go see what they were doing in there, so I got up and walked to the room they had disappeared into. Monroe was sitting on the edge of the bed while Carson sewed him up, he was biting his lip, like he was trying not to complain. It was only a few more minutes until Carson was done stitching him up.

"Good as new eh Bass?"

"Yep this should do it. Thanks again."

"Don't mention it. You two gonna stay the night?" Monroe looked at me as if asking if I was comfortable enough to stay at this man's house. I nodded at him.

"Uhh, yeah I guess." He told Carson.

"Great, there's another bedroom down the hall."

"Thanks." Replied Monroe. Grabbing my arm and leading me down the hallway. I was very tired and was looking forward to actually sleeping in an actual bed and not the ground, plus it was late anyway.

"You didn't look like you were too comfortable in there." I said when we were alone in the room.

"Yeah," He chuckled, "I'm not a big fan of needles. You should get some sleep, I'll be on the couch if you need anything."

"Okay, night."

"Night." He said as he walked out the door, closing it behind him. I crawled into bed, I haven't been this comfortable since I have no idea when. I stared at the ceiling slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

I tried to save him, I couldn't move, it's like there is weights in my legs. "Danny!" I yelled. He turned his head to look at me just in time for a bullet to collide with the side of his head. He fell dead, a pool of blood gathering around him.

"Danny!" I screamed as I shot up out of the bed crying, holding my head in my hands. I couldn't save him, 'Never let go of Danny's hand' I remember my mom telling that to me when I was younger. But I did let go of his hand and now ... he's dead. I raised my head at the sound of a door opening, Monroe appeared next to me sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Charlie you okay?" He asked me. I nodded still crying. He pulled me against his bare chest, cradling me there. "Your okay," He told me, "It was just a dream." It may have been a dream, but Danny was dead, that part wasn't a dream, I couldn't do anything about that, nobody could. He stayed with me until he thought I was asleep. When he went to get up, I grabbed at his arm, pulling him back down. "Stay." I muttered, scooting over so he would have a place to lay. He didn't object and laid down beside me holding me in his arms still. I rested my head on his chest, allowing myself to drift back off to sleep.

* * *

"Where was I? Why am I in the same bed as he is? Why is he holding me in his arms? Why doesn't he have his shirt on? What did he do to me?" My thoughts raced as I ripped myself out of his arms and quickly crawled to the other side of the bed. Monroe sat up quickly and looked around like someone was trying to hurt him. Then his eyes settled on me. "What the hell is this?" I asked him in a bitter tone.

"What is what?" He questioned.

"Why are you in here, with me, half-naked? What did you do to me?" I asked, wondering what kind of crap he would come up with.

"Charlie, you had a bad dream and you woke up screaming so I came in here to check on you and you wanted me to stay. I swear to god I didn't do anything." He gave me that please believe me look.

"Right," I mumbled. "So where are we then?"

"One of my friend's houses." He explained. Then it hit me and I remembered everything, the man who sliced Monroe's arm open, coming to this place, the dream, Danny, him coming to check on me.

_"How could I have been so stupid?" _I thought. "_Letting him sleep in the same bed as me, Miles would be pissed if he found out." _

"I'll go get some clothes on." He informed me as he got up and walked to the door.

"You're not going anywhere Bass." I heard Carson say. I looked up and Carson was holding the butt of a pistol against Monroe's head, practically pushing him back through the door.


	3. Chapter 3

"Carson what the hell?!" Yelled Monroe, obviously shocked that this was happening to him yet again. "You better have a good reason for this!"

"Bass, I'm a patriot, I'm sorry." Carson responded, not knowing really what to do or what to say.

"So what you gonna do, shoot me?" Monroe smirked.

"I'm taking you in." Carson said as he shoved Monroe up against the wall and cuffed his hands behind his back.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me." Monroe complained, annoyed. I reached under my pillow and grasped the knife I had put there last night in case something like this happened. Then Carson turned to me,

"So what are we going to do with this pretty little lady?" He thought out loud.

"You're not going to touch her." Monroe spat. Carson just looked at me and smirked. I whipped the knife out from under the pillow and threw it at him, aiming for his chest. The knife plunged into his heart and he fell to the ground.

"Bitch." I murmured.

"Search him and see if he has the damn keys." Monroe said as I slid off the bed and searched Carson's pockets, finding the key and uncuffing Monroe.

"You can never trust anyone can you? I thought I learned that a long time ago but apparently not." He said as he looked at his friends dead body. "Look around and see if there's anything we might be able to use. I'll go get some clothes on and then we can go." I searched around for things that might be of value to us. I didn't find any food but I found weapons and ammo, a whole room full.

"Monroe is gonna love all this." I muttered to myself.

"Monroe is gonna love what?" He asked, suddenly appearing behind me, fully clothed. I gestured to the weapons.

"Sweet." He said, suddenly looking excited. He walked about the room trying them all out.

"Most of these are good guns, so pick what you want." He said as he slipped a pistol into his waistband. "I'm going to go get a couple of horses ready, so come outside when your ready." He said walking out the door. I picked out a nice crossbow and some knives that looked like they were pretty sharp. I ran the blade up the top of my arm, "_Yep it's sharp enough."_ I thought. I also picked up a gun, Glock, 9mm. I wasn't a big gun fan but you never know when you might need it. I shoved the gun into my waistband and the knives in my backpack, along with some arrows that were lying around. I grabbed a few boxes of bullets off a table before I went outside to Monroe.

The only sign of Monroe was a horse tacked up and tied to the fence outside, but Monroe was nowhere to be seen. I walked up to the horse, I could go right now, just leave without Monroe. But what good would that do? He would find me, just like all the other times. So I shook away that thought and walked into the barn. Monroe was throwing a saddle onto another horses back. He glanced at me when I walked in.

"Give me a hand with this?" He asked, tightening the girth around the horses stomach. I nodded, setting my bow down by the door then grabbing the bridle off the stall door and putting it on the horse.

"Well then," he said, after we finished tacking up the horse "we better get going."

"Yep." I responded leading the horse out of the barn, picking up my bow on the way out.

"Take the one tied to the fence, she's calmer."

"Oh and you don't think I can handle a horse?" I asked, tieing my bow to the back of the saddle before mounting up on the horse I just lead out.

"But seriously Charlie-,"

"You doubting me Monroe?" I cut him off.

"It would seem so, Charlotte." I signaled my horse into a trot down the driveway, he pulled on the bit and tossed his head, as I held him back. I could see what Monroe was talking about. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle though. I heard hoofbeats behind me.

"Keep up Monroe!" I called, moving my horse into a slow canter as I reached the dirt road. Of course the thing wanted to go faster than I did so I had to hold him back. I could tell by time we got to where ever the hell we were going my arms would be sore.

"You wanna have a little fun Charlie?" Monroe asked, as he moved his horse up beside mine, keeping the same pace. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"What kind of fun you talking about?"

"I'll race you to that tree." He said pointing to some random tree up ahead.

"You're on Monroe."

"Okay on three, one... three!" He yelled releasing his horse and pushing her on."

"You suck at counting!" I yelled at him. I gave my horse his head and without me doing anything he took off like a rocket, easily catching up with Monroe and then leaving him in the dust. I leaned forward in the saddle taking my weight off the horses back so he could run faster. I tried to pull my horse down so he was under control, but being the damn hard-headed animal he was, he barely slowed, instead he resorted to throwing his head around like crazy and giving small bucks.

"Easy now." I whispered. Sitting up in the saddle, so I could better control the horse. He bucked, and threw his head up at the same time, his head smacking me in the face.

"Son of a bitch!" I yelled moving one of my hands up to my mouth. My horse veered off quickly to the left and I lost my balance and fell.

_"Oww_." Was the first thing that came to my head. Monroe rode up beside me and jumped off his horse.

"You okay?" He asked kneeling down beside me.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." I said, slowly sitting up, rubbing my head.

"Good."

"Damnit." I murmured.

"What is it?" His eyes looked concerned.

"My crossbow was tied to the horse."

"Thats all you're worried about Charlotte?" He laughed.

"That was a nice bow!"

"Yeah? Well we gotta get moving if were going to find someplace before dark. Here you take the horse, I'll walk."

"We could double." I offered, mounting up.

"No it would be to much strain on the horse."

"Whatever you say, horse expert."

"Right," He chuckled, "because I had never even seen a horse before the blackout."

We walked in silence for a few hours, we had nothing to talk about like usual. By time we found a place to stay the night at the sun was almost totally set. It was a small abandoned house set back from the road. He went into the house to check things out while I tended to the horse. When I was finished I went into the house to check it out for myself. It was very small, one bedroom, a bathroom, a small living room, and a kitchen. Monroe had found a lantern and had sitting on the kitchen table, along with two plates of some sort of meat. We ate in the dim light of the lantern, and when we were done he offered to clean up so I could go change for bed.

I pulled my gun from my waistband and placed it onto the nightstand, before pulling my night-clothes from my backpack and changing into them.

A few minutes later I heard a knock on the door.

"Is it safe for me to come in?" He asked, his voice muffled because of the door.

"Yeah." I responded and he walked right in as I crawled into bed.

"I'll sleep on the floor." He said pulling his shirt off.

"You don't have to."

"Yes I do, do you know what your uncle and your mother would do if they found out we slept in the same bed together?"

"It's not like we're having sex or anything."

"Charlotte." He whispered, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I get cold at night."

"I just don't think it's a good idea."

"You don't trust me?"

"You're not the one I'm worried about."

"You've slept in the same bed as me before and there was never a problem."

"It's not a good idea."

"Bass, please." His name felt weird coming from my mouth.

"You really think you can just call me Bass and I'll do whatever you want me to?" he asked suddenly sounding bitter.

"No."

"Why do you want me to sleep up here so badly?"

"You will be bitching tomorrow about your back hurting." I lied, not really knowing why I wanted him in bed with me so badly.

"You know Charlotte," He mused, leaning in close to me. "You are a terrible liar." Usually I would glare at him and tell him to never call me Charlotte again but this time it was different. The way he looked at me when he said it. He had that look of want in his eyes. He slowly lowered his face closer to mine, and I felt my heart rate increase. His lips met mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him down on top of me. I wanted him, no that's an understatement. I needed Sebastian Monroe. I ran my hands down his sides and tried to reach his belt buckle.

"Charlotte," he started, pulling away. "lets not take this to far."

"I want you, Bass." I said still messing with his belt buckle.

"Charlotte, I said no." He warned, taking my hands and pinning them above my head. He moved his lips back to mine then let them trail down my neck and along my collarbone. He flicked his thumb over my brand and stopped kissing me. He slowly pulled down my right arm and gazed at it.

"When did you get this?"

"Awhile ago."

"Well I guess you really are mine." He joked. Trailing his lips over the mark, _his _mark.

"Then maybe you should make me feel like I'm yours." I said, grinding against him.

"Charlie," he moaned, sitting up and moving off of me, "we can't do this."

"Bass-" I started.

"Charlotte, I don't want you to have to regret anything." He interrupted. "Especially anything that has to do with me." He leaned over and blew out the candle on the nightstand. "Now get some rest."


	4. Chapter 4

I awoke freezing my ass off, and the fact that Bass practicly had all the covers to himself wasn't helping much. I glanced out the window it was still dark, most likley 3 or 4 in the morning. I grabbed at the corner of the cover and pulled on them, they didn't budge. I sighed, _he must be laying on them._ I thought to myself.

"Bass." I whispered. He didn't move. "Bass." I said again alittle louder, tapping his arm lightly. When that had no effect either I resulted in flicking him in the arm. "Bass." I said with an annoyed edge to my voice. Before I could even register what was happening he was ontop of me, pinning me down, gun to my head. _What the hell was he doing?_

"What do you want?!" he almost yelled. I stared at him with wide eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, don't shoot me Bass. Please." I whimpered.

"Charile?" he questioned, immediatly taking the gun off me and placing it back on the nightstand. "Oh my god, I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to..." he trailed off. I pushed him off of me and rolled over on my side, staring at the wall.

"Why do you have to be so damn paranoid?" I muttered.

"What was that?" he asked, moving closer to me.

"Nothing." I snapped at him.

"Look, I didn't mean to hurt you, it's just my relfexes-"

"Your reflexes what?" I interupted him. "You blame your reflexes for every person you have ever killed?"

"Charlie," He warned as he roughly grabbed my arm and turned me over to face him. "do _not_ go there."

"What are you going to do? Shoot me?" He stared at me blankly. "Yeah, I've heard about what you do to the people who talk back to you or just piss you off."

He released his hold on my arm. "And that doesn't scare you?"

"Dissapointed?"

"Just go to sleep Charlotte." I watched him settle back down on the other side of the bed before turning over and resuming staring at the wall. I let my eyes flutter shut and listened to the sound of Bass' breathing. He sounded as if he had fallen asleep already.

* * *

I sprinted through the woods, constantly looking over my shoulder, though I didn't know what for. My lungs and legs burned like they had been set on fire. I could barely see two feet in front of me. My heart was pounding. I tripped over something and fell flat on my face, landing at someone's feet. I looked up but I couldn't see the figure, they were concealed in the shadows.

"Hello Charlotte," came a males voice. "I'm General Monroe." He said stepping into the light, a wicked grin on his face.

"What the hell do you want?" I spat at him.

"Oh nothing much," he says, kneeling down next to me. "I just want to know where Miles is."

"I'm not telling you anything."

"Oh I think you will." He said pulling out his gun and pointing it to my head.

I kept a straight face, my eyes locked on his, daring him to pull the trigger.

"This not persuasive enough for you?" he asked me. I didn't answer him. "Well okay then." He pointed the gun at my leg and pulled the trigger. Pain exploded through my leg, and I screamed. His face became serious. "Where is he Charlotte?" he asked again.

"I don't know."

"Don't you lie to me!" He yelled.

"I don't know where he is." I repeated. He grabbed my leg, making pain shoot through it. I screamed once again, a tear ran down my cheek and it seemed to give him some sort of satisfaction. He leaned close to me so he could whisper in my ear.

"This is your last chance to tell me before things get ugly." He whispered. "For the last time, where is Miles?"

"I don't know where he is, I swear." My shakey voice replied.

"Okay then," he said, pulling away from me and standing up.

"Sargent Strausser." He barked.

"Yes sir?" I heard Strausser reply, moving out from the shadows. His grey hair glistened in the moonlight and I could just barely make out the scars on his face.

"Get her to talk."

"Yes sir." Strausser replied again moving toward me, pulling a knife from his belt. Monroe stood back in the shadows watching intently.

"Hey sweet heart." Strausser said to me, taking on the same position Monroe had. "You gonna tell us where Miles is?"

"Go to hell." I spat at him.

"Have it your way." He said, taking the knife and cutting it into my skin.

* * *

I woke up screaming and my hand went straight to my face, making sure I wasn't bleeding. I could still feel my leg throbbing, and I was shaking.

"Charlie whats wrong?" Bass sleepily asked, moving over to me.

"Don't you dare touch me!" I almost yelled at him. He stared at me with his questioning gaze. Everything was quiet for a few moments and then he finally realized what the dream was about.

"Shit," He said to himself. "That dream, it was about me wasn't it?" I didn't answer him. "Charlie I would never hurt you. No matter what I may have done to you or your family before, I don't wanna hurt you, ever." He moved closer again and this time I didn't say anything. He pulled me into his arms and I shivered under his touch.

"Hey it's okay," He whispered as he rubbed my back. "I swear to god I will _never_ hurt you." He lingered on the word 'never' like he wanted me to know that he ment what he was saying. "And I won't let anybody else hurt you either." He paused for a second. "I promise Charlotte." He kissed my forehead, slowly lowering himself onto his back, pulling me with him, my head resting on his chest. "I'm not that man anymore."

* * *

Agh sorry for the short chapter, but I didn't want to wait like a whole nother week because I like have writers block or something. I don't know this story just doesn't wanna be written right now. Yeah we can go with that. So anyway I'll try to update more often.


	5. Chapter 5

I am so sorry guys! I haven't updated since I don't even know when. You just gotta love writers block. And I had no idea where I was even going with this chapter so ideas just kinda came to me while I was trying to bullshit my way through it and I just threw them in there. And it's so short! Sorry again. I will do better I promise.

* * *

I woke in Bass' arms, and judging by the steady rise and fall of his chest, he was still asleep. It was light out now, but I didn't dare wake him, not after what happened last night. So I wiggled my way out of his arms to get dressed, careful not to wake him.

"Mmm Charlotte." He mumbled, his eyes flickering open.

"Morning Bass." I glanced at him as I changed into my clothes.

"So you're sticking with the whole Bass thing?"

I wadded up his shirt and threw it at him. He caught it without any problem. "Just get dressed."

"Yes Ma'am." He gave me a half-hearted salute.

I combed out my hair with my fingers, while I watched him lazily pull the shirt over his head.

"I'll go get the horse ready." I said grabbing my gun off then nightstand then walking out of the room and out the front door.

The warm Texas air hit me as soon as I opened the door. I breathed it in, letting it fill my lungs as I made the short walk to where I had put the horse. As I drew closer, I heard voices, and footsteps. Whoever it was they wern't trying very hard to be quiet. I drew the gun out of my waistband, positioning it behind my leg, so it was hidden. A twig snapped under my own feet, and I stopped abruptly, waiting to see if they had heard.

"What was that?" One of them asked, lowering their voice.

"I have no idea." Replied another.

"Well I'm going to go check it out."

"Damn it." I murmured, slowly backing away from the scene. The man turned the corner of the house, and stopped and smiled at me when he saw me.

"Well now what do we have here?" he asked. "Surely a pretty young thing like you wouldn't be out here all alone now would they?"

I looked the man up and down. He was tall and skinny, but unarmed as far as I could tell. So that had to mean that I was dealing with a bunch of idiots. He quickly lunged in my direction and I shot blindly at him. The man cried out, taken aback by my actions. Blood seeped from his shoulder, dying his sleeve a dark red. The other man came running.

"Oh my god, Mike!" the man yelled, a panicking edge to his voice.

"That bitch shot me!" he said angrily, holding his shoulder.

I pointed the gun at the other man and he did the same with me, along with the one I had just shot.

"Well sweatheart, looks like you're out numbered here." Says the man I just shot. "Now drop the gun, because if you shoot one of us, I can promise you the other will put you down." I lowered the gun slowly before dropping it to the ground.

"That's a good girl." He said moving closer, kicking the gun away. He lifted his hand to my cheek, his lips slowly finding mine. I pushed him away, giving him a nice punch in the face. He had earned it.

He gave me a half-smile. "You wanna play like that sweetheart? You better be careful." With that he shoved me up against the house, kissing me violently, my hands pinned at my waist. One of his hands worked on removing my shirt. Scenes of what happened at the bar flooded my mind. I had really thought that was going to be it. That is until Monroe had busted in there and saved my ass. I tried to get my wrists free but he just tightened his grip and pushed himself up against me more. Where the hell was Monroe now? The only time I actually needed him to come save my ass he wasn't there. I busied myself with trying to get the bastard off of me. He was having none of it. He somehow managed to slip his tounge into my mouth, and out of pure disgust I bit down as hard as I could. I could taste his blood and he ripped himself away from me, giving me a nasty look before punching me in the face. My vision swam, and I had to lean up against the house in order to stay on my feet. That was one hell of a punch.

"Gentlemen," I heard a voice somewhere off in the distance. I knew that voice. Bass. "why are you abusing this harmless girl?"

"She's not harmless." One of the two men replied. "She shot me in the shoulder."

"Well you're going to have it a lot worse than a bullet in your shoulder if you don't leave now."

"And who are you to tell me that?"

"Trust me," Bass smirked, "you don't want to know." There was silence between the three of them and then two gunshots rang out. Bass was in front of me checking to make sure if I was okay in a matter of seconds.

"Charlotte? Did he hurt you?" He asked frantically, checking me over.

"No I'm fine." I pulled away from him. "And I didn't need your help."

"So you would rather be raped than saved by Sebastian Monroe?"

I looked at him trying to tell him with my eyes that I did need him. That there were some situations I couldn't handle by myself. But there was no way I would ever admit it out loud.

"Look Charlotte, I'd be damned if I didn't protect you." I had to bite my tongue in order to keep my comments to myself about how he's probably already 'damned'. All the things he's done, all the people he's killed. I mean who the hell brands people? Only Sebastian Monroe.

"Well the only thing you need to protect me from is yourself, because if you ever turn into General Monroe again I swear to god-"

"You'll slit my throat?" he cut me off, closing the space between us. He grabbed my wrist and stroked the 'M' branded into it. "I really am sorry about this. It had to have hurt like hell."

"That would be an understatement." I looked at him. Wait, _had_ to? He didn't have one? I raised my eyebrow at him.

"What?" He asked.

"Had to? Don't you have one?" He shook his head and pulled up sleeve, revealing a nasty looking scar in the shape of an M.

"It was a tattoo, but I couldn't risk anyone finding out who I was, so I burnt it off."

I just stared at him. Burnt it off? You could do that? I took a few steps away from him.

"We should get going." I told him. Turning on my heel to go get the horse without an interruption. As I turned the corner I realised nothing was there. No horse, no tack, no fucking sign a horse had even been there. _Bastards_. I sighed. Looks like it's back to walking.


End file.
